A great training session

[Aielyn]

So, there are threads for things like people noticing, etc, but I couldn't see a thread for talking about actual training sessions, and how well they went. We don't all want to keep detailed logs of how each session goes, but every so often, there'll be that session that we want to talk about - specifically, the session itself, not some muscle sighting or such. Well, that's what this thread is for.


So, today was a great training session for me. It was leg day, so it was all quads, calves, and hamstrings.

Started out focusing on doing some really deep squats. By "really deep", I mean that if I'd tried to go any lower, my arse would have hit the ground, and I'd have fallen back and injured myself. My squat form has generally been one of my biggest problems, so I figured it would be a great way to get a good workout and work on my form simultaneously. Started with just the 20 kg bar, then increased to 40 kg, then 50 kg, at which I did 10 reps, then 8 reps, then 6 reps. Not a huge weight, but I was definitely feeling it. I think it did a good job (thanks to the depth) of hitting some of the parts of the quad (plus possibly the abductors) that don't usually get hit very well.

To follow this up, I moved to the 45 degree leg press machine. Did some sets of 12 at 200 kg as "warm up" (really, just working the muscle fairly tamely), then kicked it up to 320 kg for a couple of sets (10 reps, then 8 reps) - probably wasn't going as deep as I'd like, but I blame that on the squats.

Next up, I finished off the quads (in the Mortal Kombat sense of "finish") with some leg extensions. The last set of them, I did a drop set that left me struggling to walk... but I pushed through that feeling and got the legs functional again. Meanwhile, there was a rather extreme pump in the quads - they felt about 20% bigger than usual, although I was probably exaggerating it in my own mind.

Followed this up with some seated calf raises (on a machine like this). My working sets, there, were 70 kg, with one set of 4 reps at 80 kg in the middle. By the end of these, my calves were screaming (mooing?) at me.

Not letting up, I moved on to some hamstring curls. Now, sadly, there's no laying hamstring curl machine at any of the gyms I have access to, and I can't stand seated hamstring curl machines. So I went for swiss ball hamstring curls. With a 6 kg medicine ball between my knees, I did five sets of them (2 x 12 reps, 3 x 10 reps). My hams were already sore by this point, but I decided to push it just a bit further, and did one set of 5 reps of controlled hamstring drops - that was more than enough to convince me that I was done.

With everything below the hips sore already, I finished off with 15 minutes on the treadmill, of which I did 12 minutes at the maximum incline for the machine ("20%") at 6.5 km/h (the remaining 3 minutes were same speed, no incline). By the end of this, every step was producing a shock of pain shooting through the inner part of the lower quad on my right leg, and a similar pain was starting to occur in the left leg, too. It was at that point that I knew I'd need to call it quits.

I know that tomorrow, my legs are going to be damn sore. It's a cardio-only day, so hopefully the long, brisk walk will help settle them down. And I'm hoping that my next leg day goes as well as this one did.

Anyway, that was my great training session.

[raven79]

Aielyn, you are right! There are no current threads about training sessions. Good eye! Anyone else care to share?

[dodoria21]

good idea for a thread! I've toyed with detailing my training sessions in my thread, but didn't want to bog it down with those, so this is a good idea for those of us who want to talk about the really good sessions.

I'll match your leg session with one of my recent ones, because it really was epic.

I began with barbell squats. I actually do struggle with these, and from now on am gonna switch to a squat machine with the shoulder pads. In any case, I began with 205lbs for 12 reps, then 225lbs for 10. Decided to just move up to 235, and I still got 10 reps out with no issues, so I jumped to 255lbs. Couple reps almost felt myself being forced back, but I held on. That was just my warm up, of course.

Moved on to walking lunges. I use 40lb dumbbells for those. I take 4 steps with deep lunges, then turn around and do 4 back. I repeat for a total of 16 lunges. After three sets of this, I basically dropped the dumbbells. Definitely felt it in the glutes.

Next up is leg extensions. Started with 160lbs this time for 12 reps. Moved up 10 lbs each set while dropping the reps by two, so by the time I finished 190x6, my quads were screaming. Definitely staggered a bit while walking away.

Headed over to do hip adductors and abductors. I like these to help in flexibility and when I run. I don't push the weight that heavy, maybe 70lbs, and I do 3 sets with high reps on each machine. It definitely does the trick, as I am left feeling the burn in my inner and outer thighs.

Next I head to calf raises. Time for the insane weights to come out. 540lbs. I do 4 sets with reps going 12, 10, 10, 8. Calves were twitching after that.

Finally, I prepared myself for my favorite move: the leg press. Starting weight; 550lbs. 12 reps. I tend to keep my hands raised to catch my legs during each rep, just in case I need to give a push, but really, I like doing that because my quads bulge like crazy on this machine Finished that set and went to 570lbs at 10 reps. This time I did need to give my legs a push towards the end. After this set had to walk around to recover. Was feeling a head rush from the effort and definitely felt my quads burning. Next up, 590lbs. Had to dig deep just to make that initial push so I could put the safety bars down. pumped out 6 reps, held it for a second to catch my breath, then hammered out two more. sled made a bang as I put the safety on cuz my legs just gave out a bit. I was gasping, and it was hard standing up. I staggered over to a bench and sat down to collect myself. My quads at this point were just twitching. As exhausted I felt (to the point of nausea), i LOVED how the quads were twitching I thought maybe that would be the last set, but after a minute of sitting, then walking around a bit, I decided I had one more in me: 610 lbs. I wanted to break that 600 mark. So down I went. Placed my feet on the sled. Took a deep breath and pushed. Gritted my teeth as I got the sled pushed up, lowered the safetys, and grunted through 6 solid reps. Couldn't get right up after. I just laid there panting and feeling good. Finally swung my legs off, and as I stood up my quads just wanted to give out completely. I rested awhile before putting all the weights back, which was such a tiring exercise at this point.

after a few more minutes of resting and the quads twitching out of control, I staggered out of the gym. Had to just fall into my car because my legs were DONE. I chugged my recovery drink and eventually drove home.

haha hope that didn't become too long. that was last week's leg workout. ever since joining the gym, each one has been building up in intensity. That one was the most intense yet. Can barely imagine what this week may be like. Legs is definitely the biggest workout I do. Leaves me breathless, and I love it

[Aielyn]

So, I had a great session yesterday (New Year's Eve).

Had to go early, because the gym was closing at 3 PM (closed completely New Year's Day, too), when I'm used to starting training at 5 PM or so. Had taken the entire previous week off as a break (mostly because I needed a break for recovery).

Since I hadn't trained for a bit, and am planning on changing up my routine starting next week, and because the gym was closed today (whereas I usually train Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri), I decided I'd go for a full-body workout, something I don't normally do.

Started off with bench press, and ended up very pleased with myself. For the first time ever, I completed a rep of 100 kg without any actual assistance (had someone there to spot me, just in case, though). Was told that my elbows went a little below parallel, so while I didn't go deep, it was deep enough to "count". What this means is that I managed to do a 100 kg bench press in 2012, rather than having to wait until 2013 to do it.

My chest is still sore from the set (went 12x60kg, 10x70kg, 8x80kg, 4x90kg, 1x100kg), so that worked out well.

Followed it up with some barbell bent-over rows. Didn't set any personal best, here, but did quite well, still. 12x60kg, 8x80kg (probably could have done 10, but slacked off a bit), 6x90kg, 3x100kg.

After this, I went to the 45 degree leg press (decided to leave squats for later in the week). For the first time in at least four months, I went seriously heavy on it. 12x200kg, 12x280kg, 10x360kg, 3x440kg. The last set was a bit shallow, but I definitely felt it. Legs are still sore, although there's more to that, which I'll elaborate on at the end.

I then moved over to the cables, and did some cable shrugs. Here, I was working on some recovery, because a few weeks ago, I tried doing some shrugs and managed to pinch a nerve in my shoulder - it's healing, but not quite 100%, so I was mostly just stimulating it.

After this, I decided to do something I haven't actually done before. I know it has a name, but I can't remember it off the top of my head - maybe someone else can supply the name for it. Standing with a pair of dumbbells, I curled them up, rotated them into the starting position for a shoulder press, did the shoulder press, stopped when my elbows were parallel with the ground, rotated the dumbbells back again, then lowered them down to my waist again. I did four sets of that with 12.5kg dumbbells, three sets of 10 and then a set of 6. I was shocked at how exhausting they were, probably partly because of what came before.

Headed into the sauna to finish.

Why were my legs so sore? Because as of the 29th of December (decided not to put it off until New Years), I have started doing sprints up the sloped road outside my house - it's about a 15-20 degree incline for most of the length I was sprinting, which would be somewhere around 80-100 m. I'd start at the bottom of the hill, sprint to the top, then turn around and walk back down, sprinting from the bottom again as soon as I got there. Did it on the 29th and the 30th. 31st was, of course, the full-body gym day, and the sprints had my quads and hamstrings already somewhat sore. They're more sore, today, but I went out and did sprints again. This year, I'm kicking my fitness work into high gear.

[Aielyn]

Not so much one great session, as two great results over two days, this time.

On Thursday, it was chest day. As I mentioned in the last post, on December 31st, I broke my personal best by doing one rep at 100 kg on bench press. Well, on February 28th, two months later, I decided to try pushing above 100 kg, see how I'd go. My one rep max is now at least 107.5 kg, possibly a little higher (I did 5 reps, across two sets, at 102.5 kg first, so maybe I'd go heavier if I didn't wear myself down first). Not bad for two months of training. The rest of the workout was fairly normal.

On Friday, it was legs. Started with some power squats (I normally do olympic squats). Did 8 reps across two sets at 100 kg, which is something I wouldn't have been able to do a few months ago. Then I did 45 degree leg press, and focused on keeping my form as strict as possible - was able to do three sets of 6 at 320 kg, with proper form, going to appropriate depth. After some other leg work, I did some seated calf raises on a machine. Only recently have I been pushing hard on that, but I decided to go particularly hard - I did 2.5 reps of 100 kg (the 0.5 rep means that I didn't quite complete the rep properly, but I almost made it), and then 1 rep at 110 kg.

All in all, a good end to the week, training-wise.

[bulkybud]

Awesome chest and back day!

Tried to up the weight on all my lifts today and did good on my back workout but then did much better than expected on chest.

I have had to give up flat barbell benching due to shoulder pain any time I go above 260. While it rather depressed me, I have started working on heavy reps on the Hammer Strength chest press. Today I tried for a new personal best and after a warmup set of 8 at 340 lbs., I did 2 sets of 6 at 360 lbs. Having 4 45 lb plates on each side does wonders for your ego!

Went on to do the rest of my chest workout 10- 20 lbs heavier than before- I was on roll. Now I have to see if I can lift those same weights on my NEXT chest day.

I know I'm going to be sore tomorrow, but I sure walked out of the gym smiling this morning!

bulkybud.